Fountain pen inks reviews and comparisons

  Writer's Blood by Diamine. The latest addition and chosen by Reddit's r/fountainpen community after a long debate and many voting rounds. A dark red, heavily leaning towards brown and aubergine purple. A subtle color that works both in the office and for personal correspondence.   There is no feathering and some shading. The ink is very wet, even wetter than usual for Diamine. The ink is smooth. I was surprised to see it can handle a bit of water. At least your work will remain legible. Drying times are slow, 85 secs on Tomoe River paper. The characteristics: Feathering None Shading Some Show through Light Wetness High Lubrication Excellent Shimmer/sheen None Price/ml € 0,12 Writer's Blood reminded me most of Diamine Oxblood. In some...

  Wondrous Winterberry, part of the 2020 festive series by Canadian brand Ferris Wheel Press. It's hard to miss Ferris Wheel Press' advertisements, they even did a Kickstarter project for new colors, but I never tried them until now. The packaging is amazing indeed, it does look beautiful.  But at the end of the day it's the ink that counts. The color is a beautiful subdued red with some brown. For the holiday season they have included gold shimmer. For personal notes and letters the color is quite good and remains pleasant to read, even for longer writings. It's not an ink to use in the office. The ink behaves quite well, the shading is minimal and lubrication is good without being really smooth. The shimmer is subtle, but clearly visible. Drying time - on Tomoe River 52g paper - was 55 seconds which is average. Don't let water come near to your writings, it's very efficient in erasing all, even after several days.  The ink characteristics: ...

Recently, the Dutch webshop LaCouronneDuComte launched a new series of ink under their own name. The ink is being produced by Diamine and has similar bottles and pricing.  The webshop claims that the colors are exclusive for them. Pain d'Épices is a warm red, or as the website describes it, "Pain d'Épices is a warm, red-brown ink with an olive-green sheen that evokes the feeling of a delicious gingerbread." I wouldn't touch a gingerbread in this color with a ten foot pole, but it is a warm red and when using very wide or poster nibs, the green sheen is clearly visible. Much better for personal use than for office use, but it is elegant and dark enough.  Quality of the ink is as expected. No feathering, beautiful shading, hardly any show-through, normal wetness, good lubrication and average drying times. As afraid of water as the next Diamine ink. So how does the color compare to other inks? As can be seen in the Ink Comparisons, it will be extremely hard t...

Black Swan in Australian roses. What to expect from an ink with that name? It's definitely not black, nor does the color remind me of roses. I'd say it's a light purple color, leaning towards red. One explanation I've read for the name was the high degree of (almost black) shading. In any case, it's a nice, subtle color. It's definitely more a color for personal use than for use in the workspace, but you will still get away with taking notes in this color. No one would take offense or even frown.  The ink is well behaved. Noodler's is a no-frills ink brand. It does what it has to do. Atypical for Noodler's are the high shading and the long drying times. Very different from the inks of this brand I used before: Tchaikovsky, Heart of Darkness, Esenin, and Kingfisher. It wasn't easy to find a color that comes close. It reminded me most of Diamine's Syrah (much darker) and a little bit of Iroshizuku's Bishamonten and Montblanc's Lavend...

A bright red ink, exclusive for the German market (but easily available online) and with a very intriguing name for a writing ink. Which effect does this red color have or aim to have?  It is a beautiful red color, bright and deep.  In my opinion it is more suitable for grading and correcting than for notes or correspondence. For longer reads I like reds with a bit more brown, for greeting and holiday cards I prefer a shimmering red ink (Firestorm Red, Rouge Hematite for instance) . The quality of ink is high, as is to be expected from Diamine. No feathering, nice shading, negligible show-through and very smooth writing. The ink is very wet, which can be seen easily when writing and it comes back in above average drying time of 50 seconds (Crown Mill Vellum paper, medium nib Parker). In the writing with a poster nib some silver/green sheen can be seen. The ink most certainly doesn't like water. The color that comes closest is Red Dragon, also by Diamine....

A very bright, in-your-face red. Red as a firetruck, with a heavy dose of silver shimmer. The color certainly lives up to its name. It would be a perfect color for grading and corrections, if not for the shimmer. The shimmer makes it a bit too festive for that. So it's not suitable for the workplace, but for greeting cards, short notes or some personal writing, it will work pretty well. The ink behaves as expected: really good. No feathering, negligible show-through, moderate wetness, good lubrication, and average drying times. Shading is very low and he amount of shimmer is high. It's visible even in medium nibs. With a poster nib it's even too much. The ink doesn't like water.... the ink washes away almost immediately. Funnily enough, the shimmer stays.  Firestorm Red is the brightest red I have. Even Red Dragon is significantly darker. The Rouge Hematite looks much more purple in comparison (that surprised me). Lamy's Ruby is a lot less saturated.  ...

When it comes to dark red inks that are beautiful, can be used for other purposes than grading and Christmas cards, and are even acceptable in an office environment, two Diamine inks lead the pack: Red Dragon and Oxblood . At first glance they look somewhat similar.  However, Red Dragon is a purer, brighter red. Fresh blood if you will. Oxblood leans more towards brown and can be compared to dried blood.  In behavior the inks don't differ much. Both quite wet and behaving really well with all pens I've tried them in.  In the scan I have used the same pens to do the writing samples. Using three different languages to show the effect and behavior better. The paper is Original Crown Mill Vellum (off-white).  There is no argument about taste, pick your own favorite. In everyday writing show-through and bleed-through are no concern with these inks, as long as you stick to decent paper. You can easily use the backside in your Rhodia notebook.  There is a di...

I've mentioned it before: I like red inks, my absolute favorite is  Diamine's Oxblood  and I am still searching for a dark bright red . After Crimson I decided to buy Red Dragon as well. A popular red and often sold out.Red Dragon is definitely a beautiful red.  It's dark and elegant enough to use in the office for note taking. But in my opinion this ink is far more suitable for personal use. Personal notes, greeting cards, stories that require red ink, etc.  The ink is more wet than usual for Diamine, causing a slightly longer drying time, some show-through and negligible bleed-through. Still the ink is very well-behaved and writes very smoothly. The ink is saturated and has low to moderate shading, even in broader nibs.During normal writing there is no feathering, but on Vellum paper and broad nibs I have noted it a few times, as visible on the scan. As always with these inks, water is a bad idea, but you might have a chance to rewrite it.  Red ...

After yesterday's review of Merlot , Diamine's Syrah had to be next. As the Merlot grape, Syrah/Shiraz based wine will come in a huge variation of colors, but I think the ink still gives a good impression of the wines. A fun ink.  It's quite red and far less subtle than the Merlot. That makes is harder to use  in an office environment for note taking. For cards and letters to your red wine loving friends it's an excellent color. Merlot for the Merlot lovers, Syrah for the fans of Syrah. I often pick ink colors for the day based on mood and weather, now you can pick your color based on the meat too.  The ink feels a bit dryer and is a little less lubricated than what I'm used to from Diamine inks, but other than that the ink behaves really well. No feathering, nice shading, and hardly any show-through. Drying times little around 25 seconds which is pretty good. Water or fluids will immediately ruin your writings. With the poster nib, some green sheen can...

Diamine has over one hundred colors and some of these are quite creative. Merlot is a good example of that. The color is designed to resembles a Merlot wine. Considering the variation there, as well as Merlot being a grape often used in blends, there will be a few wines out there that look exactly like this. The result is a red and purple ink that is not too serious..   However, it's still subtle enough to use in an office environment for note taking. For cards and letters to your red wine loving friends it's an excellent color with a wink to wine or dinner of course. The color remains pleasant to read, even in long notes. The ink feels a bit dryer and is a little less lubricated than what I'm used to from Diamine inks, but other than that the ink behaves really well. No feathering, nice shading, and hardly any show-through. Drying times little less than 25 seconds which is pretty good. Water or fluids will immediately ruin your writings. Compared to the Diamine S...

Mid September, the last week of summer. Autumn is already sending its rain; a colorful season is ahead. Red inks fit autumn perfectly in my opinion. I love Diamine Oxblood and P.W. Akkerman's Stone red and assumed this Crimson ink would be a nice addition to my collection of reds. I was not mistaken.  Crimson is a very nice, beautiful color. Red of course, but subtle and elegant. Not a red for graders and correctors. It's no problem to use this for note taking in the office or for any personal correspondence and writing you want to do. The ink is pleasant for the eyes and remains so even when reading long notes or letters. Diamine makes great, wonderful value for money inks. No feathering, negligible show-through, wet but not too wet, well lubricated and high, beautiful shading. Drying times were surprisingly fast, roughly 18 seconds. The ink doesn't like water, spilled fluids ruin your writing rapidly and thoroughly.  Crimson is a dark red color with a hi...

Steenrood van Vermeer (stone red by Vermeer) is an ink from P.W. Akkerman's Dutch masters series. Inks inspired by the colors famous 17th century Dutch painters used. Stone red resembles the colors of bricks used in the famous ' Straatje van Vermeer ' painting. This is my second favorite red, after Diamine's Oxblood. The color is midway between red and brown. Classy and modest enough to be used in an office environment (for note taking). Beautiful and striking enough to be used for personal notes and correspondence. The ink remains pleasant for the eyes, no matter how long the text you have to read or write.  Akkerman's ink are excellent. Very well behaved, no feathering, very beautiful shading, no show-through, not too wet and well lubricated. I never noticed any startup problems or skipping. Drying time is fast, between 15 and 20 seconds on Crown Mill Vellum paper. The ink is very susceptible to water.  When compared to other brownish reds, it can...

I like inks. I like red inks. My favorite ink color by far is Diamine's Oxblood . And at the same time red can be disappointing and frustrating. It is often brownish and in that case no competition for Oxblood, with the possible exception of P.W. Akkerman's Stone Red (Dutch masters series). Or the red is too pink (Bishamonten), too orange (Esenin), or simply too light (Rouge Caroubier). What I miss is a dark, but bright, saturated red.  Lamy's Crystal Edition Ruby looked promising in the store, in a great bottle and reasonably priced.  In reality, Lamy Ruby is a decent, mediocre red. Not very saturated, but really red. I wouldn't use it in the office unless you have to grade or correct. Personal notes or correspondence? Only when short, the color is not bad, but not pleasant enough for the eyes for longer reads.  Decent is also the word I'd use to describe its behavior. Writing gives a dry feeling, lubrication could be better. There is no feathering, sh...

Yesterday I wrote a review on KWZ's beautiful IG Green #3 . Today's review is of a red from the same brand, iron gall red #3.  The ink is very well behaved, no feathering or show-through, well lubricated and drying faster than average (little less than 25 secs). Shading is moderate. The water resistance is quite good, the ink can take some water and still remain legible. I have used this ink in a TWSBI with a broad nib, a TWSBI with stub nib and with an oblique 1mm tape nib. With all these pens the ink behaved perfectly on Original Crown Mill Vellum paper. On copy paper KWZ IG feathers a little bit and there is significant show-through, but the ink is suitable for use on cheaper papers as well. IG Red #3 is suited for long (work) notes or letters and doesn't strain the eyes. That makes it suitable for a lot of different uses. Like every IG ink this one darkens (a lot) when dry. The effect is in this color is so big you can literally see it change when writ...

After Oxblood , Red Fox and Esenin , it is time for another red. Rouge Hematite, by Herbin, from their 1670 line. A nice bright red with some gold shimmer in it. Best compared to the gold panning kids can do be in many amusement parks these days: it's very hard to find any gold. Using a cotton swab or a stub nib, you will see some. In a regular nib, hardly at best. The 1670 line is good and this ink is no exception. Well-behaving inks and not too wet. A clear difference with the normal inks (perle des encres) that are also good, but maybe a little bit on the wet side. No feathering, no show through, moderately wet and well lubricated. Shimmer is visible, with some effort as described. Be careful with fluids though, the ink doesn't handle water very well. Drying time was a surprise, 15 seconds on crown mill paper.  Depending on nib the color varies from a bright clear red (Parker) to a darker red (Lamy, stub). I find it too bright to ...

The ink looks quite toxic in the bottle, but I do like red inks and a Moldovan friend likes the Russian poet Sergei Yesenin, so when I stumbled across this bottle, I had two reasons to buy it.  For the occasion and for fun, I experimented with Russian handwriting.  It's a typical Noodler's ink. The color is neither ugly nor beautiful, the bottle is chock-full (careful), the ink dries quickly and it behaves decently in almost every pen and on every paper. Plus, it's not very expensive.  Looking further at the characteristics I was amazed with its behavior on Crown Mill Vellum paper... even after a few seconds the ink didn't smear anymore. Incredibly fast!  There was hardly any feathering, but be careful with a dip pen or broad nib, the ink didn't do very well with that. Show through is significant, even on heavy 90g paper. Shading is low.  You don't have to be afraid that an occasional spill of water will ruin your writing. I left w...

My first ink review, it had to be this one. Possibly the most beautiful ink color I have, Oxblood by Diamine.  It is a strong, dark red, leaning towards brown. It draws people's attention, but is classy enough for business use, and even better for personal correspondence.  I always have a pen filled with this ink. But I use it more fall/winter t han in spring/summer. Most of the time Diamine comes in the practical 30ml plastic containers, for this color I have also bought the beautiful and less easy to obtain 80ml glass bottle.  The ink behaves really well, it's smooth and quite wet with long drying times (30-35 seconds). I only use high quality paper like Crown Mill, Rhodia or Lalo. There is no point in wasting precious quality ink on cheap copy paper. I particularly like the shading in this ink, it's very noticeable but never extreme. To give an idea, I have included some comparisons with Vermeer's Steenrood (PW Akkerman), Rouge Grenat (Herb...